


Our Legacy of Sorrow

by Nickidemus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:53:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5537243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nickidemus/pseuds/Nickidemus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke tells Ben Solo the truth about his grandfather and how he died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Legacy of Sorrow

"How was Darth Vader defeated?"

Luke's head snapped up. He'd sensed Ben there. He was attuned enough that he typically knew when his students were near, and he liked surprising them with this knowledge, smiling knowingly when it mystified them. It was the question that caught him off guard. He'd been meditating in his chambers with the door open, leaving this time available for the apprentices should they need him. He folded his hands into the sleeves of his robe.

"Perhaps it was time you and I had a discussion about... Vader," Luke said, watching Ben's face. He saw so much of Han there, in the cut of his profile. And so much of Leia in those dark eyes, their fierceness and curiosity. "Come. Sit."

Ben took a cushion across from him, sitting in the same fashion as Luke, legs folded beneath him. Something else about Ben besides his candor that struck Luke, especially then, was his strange patience. He burned underneath that seemingly blank veneer, and Luke felt it.

He worried over what was to come. Ben had a fascination with the past, the history of the Jedi and their family. Where he'd come from. The Force was strong in him, and he wanted not only to master it but to mine for reasons, to find himself in the faces of their lineage. If he knew this dark truth, what would it do to him? To his search within?

"Don't be upset," Luke began, "but I've not told you or the others all there is to tell. There was a man, a powerful Jedi, your namesake, who told me once about a certain point of view. At the time..." He chuckled, looking up as if he might see Obi-Wan standing there. "I thought that was a poor excuse for feeding me lies. Age... brings a kind of wisdom you can't imagine when you're young."

He sighed, could sense Ben wanting him to get on with it. "Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker, your grandfather, are the same person."

Ben's jaw clenched, his body stiff, and an unobservant person might've thought he felt nothing at all. Luke was nothing if not observant. "Are you angry with me, Ben?"

"Surprised," Ben answered.

"I can imagine," Luke said. "I can... well imagine." He cleared his throat.

"How did that happen?" Ben asked. "How did he choose darkness?"

"That's a question for another time," Luke sighed. "Today, I want to focus on that first question. How did he die? Master Kenobi and Master Yoda wanted me to defeat him. I couldn't. If I had done that, there would've been no turning back."

"From the Dark Side," Ben provided, his eyes narrowed, keen.

"Yes," Luke said, giving a curt nod. "Patricide. I couldn't. No matter what he'd done. I felt goodness in him, and I pursued it. Ultimately, your grandfather died betraying the Emperor who had seduced him with evil."

Ben looked as if he were searching for something in the room then that might explain this to him, and Luke sensed his turmoil. "Ben, you shouldn't let it trouble you." He reached across and put a hand on his shoulder. "He died a good man. No more pain. No more suffering."

The look Luke received then made him draw back, pulling his hands awkwardly into his robes again. Was he angry over the lie? Over finding there was evil in their lineage? What did that look mean? It was almost as if, and Luke felt ridiculous even thinking it, that Ben was angry at being comforted. Betrayed that Anakin's death had held meaning rather than blood. Luke dashed the thought away. Surely not.

"This has been enlightening," Ben said, and he sounded preoccupied. "What do you think would've happened if you'd killed him, master? That you would've gone to the Dark Side, you said. Would you have ruled the galaxy?"

Luke found the question sick and troubling, and he watched Ben warily now. "No. I would've been the Emperor's pawn, as my father was. I would've gained nothing and lost everything. Do you understand that, Ben?"

He seemed to really see Luke then, and his face went soft, a smile stretching his lips. "Of course. You're making perfect sense, uncle."

"Good," Luke said, though he wished the confession had made him feel lighter rather than heavier. "Very good."


End file.
